Yarn knitting machine



' March 22,1911, F. ElWALD 1 2,111,911

YARN KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 2Q 1956 s Sheets-Sheet 1 arch 22, was. A F. MEIWALD 3,111,984

YARN KN ITTING MACHI NE Filed May 2, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 22, 1938 UNITED STATES YARN KNITTING MACHINE Franz Meiwald, Vienna, Austria, assignor to \Sinfra. A. G., St. Gallen, Switzerland, a cor notation of Switzerland Application May 2, 1936, 'Serial No. 77.586

- In Austria April 17, 19st 11 Claims.

This invention relates to a new. and improved type of yarn knitting machine for the production of yarn knitted from two or more threads, and has for its object to simplify the construction and therefore to cheapen the building of such machines, as also to obtain advantages in connection with the operation ofsuch machines;

The invention will be more readily understood if reference be had to'the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, and showing, by way of example, a form of construction embodying the present invention. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the essential part of the machine, shown partlyin section.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same, likewise partly in section.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line IIIIH of Fig. 1.

. Fig. 4 shows th whole machine, in side elevation.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of the arrangement of parts provided for the purpose of stopping the machine in the event of a thread breaking, and

Fig. 6 is a detail view of a modified thread feed. r Referring to Fig. 4 the framework of the machine consists of two similar trestles I and transverse members of U-section 2 to the uppermost of which, in front, there is screwed by means of screws 4 the casing 3 of the knitting heed (Fig. 1). To the rear uppermost U-section transverse mem- 1 bet 2 there is similarly secured the holder-5 for the supply bobbins 6. On the lower-transverse member 2 there is mounted a thread twisting device of conventional design which is denoted in Fig. 4 by the reference numeral 1. The driving pulley, which may be driven by a motor in any desired manner, is denoted by 8. From this pulley a belt 9 leads, over a guide roller II), to a cord pulley II which is loosely mounted on the main driving shaft l2-of-the knitting head (Fig. 1).

The cord pulley ll constitutes the one part of a friction clutch theother, axially displaceable, part of which consists of a second cord pulley l3 which, by means of a belt l4, drives the twisting device I through the intermediary of a pulley l5. On the casing 3 there is mounted a bearing member l6 serving to support the driving shaft II. To this latter there is keyed, outside the bear- .with a bevel gear l9 that is fast on an intermediate shaft l8. The bevel gear wheel I9 is rigidly coupled to a spur wheel 20 which in its 55 turn meshes with a spur wheel 2| on the shaft I 4 in a cover-shaped casing 5|.

ingmember IS, a bevel gear I! which meshes 22 pertaining to the knitting head. The shafts i8 and 22 are supported in the casing 3 and in a cover 23 of the latter, respectively.

Fast on the shaft 22 there is a cam cylinder 24 having in its periphery a cam groove 25 in which the feet 26 (Fig. 2) of the needles 21 engage. and tongue) are inwardly-directed. There are only two needles used, and they are disposed diametrically opposite each other and guided vertically in needle beds 28. The needle beds 28 are arranged in the usual manner to be vertically adjustable and capable of being locked in position in the casing t. The adjustment of the needle beds for the purpose of altering the length of the knitted loops is likewise effected in a known manner, by virtue of the arrangement that a pin pertaining to a sliding block engages in an oblique slot in the needle bed, while the said sliding block is adapted to be displaced by means of a screw spindle. In Fig. 2 this known arrangement is partly indicated, the pin being denoted by 29, the sliding block by-tfl. the screw spindle by 3|, and the knob of the latter by 32.

The bearing member it is provided with a super-structure 33 to which there is attached a length of flat section iron 34 (Figs. 1 and 2) which carries two brackets 35, 36 for the support-- ing of a shaft 31. Fast on this shaft 31 there is a. roller 38 above which there is provided a roller 39 which is supported on one side in abearing upright" 40 extending upwards from the bracket 38. The supporting of the roller 39 is effected with theaid of a shaft 4|, which is pivotable about a pin 42 pertaining to the upright 40, so that the roller 39' can be lifted. The bracket 36 is The effective parts of the needles (hook provided with two stay-bolts 43 over which the four threads 44 coming from the supply bobbins,

and disposed "one behind the other in Fig. 1, are

taken. These threads then travel between the rollers 38, 39. r I

To the driving shaft I! there is secured, within the'casin'g It, a bevel gearwheel 45 which meshes with a bevel gear 46 attached, within the casing It, to a shaft" to which there is secured,

' outside the casing 3,a gear wheel 48 which meshes with a gear wheel 49 fast on a shaft 50 supported The gear wheel 49 forms a friction wheel 52 which co-acts, through an intermediate wheel 53, with a friction wheel 54 which is fast on the shaft 31." The intermediate wheel 53 is idly rotatable on the smooth free end of a screw spindle 55 which is screwed into a sleeve .56 rotatably mounted in a bearing 51 secured to a pin 58Ip'rojecting from the casing 16. The

intermediate wheel tilt is prevented from moving longitudinally on the spindle 55. The parts 56, 55, '53 are guided by means of a fork E59 which embraces the shaft til and is loosely mounted on the intermediate wheel 53. For the purpose of adjusting or shifting the spindle fit a knob tilt is provided on its lower end which projects from the bearing 5?.

To the cover-like casing there is secured for each of the four threads a wire spring (it the end of which is formed into an eyelet for the passage of the thread. The cover 23 is provided with a sleeve 62 in which there is firmly seated a bearing housing (53 which accommodates dearing for the operation of the thread guides. The

housing 63 is adapwd to be locked by means of a set-screw B2 in any position to which it may be vertically adjusted in the sleeve $2. The shaft 22 of the knitting head is passed through the sleeve 62 and the housing 63, and is fitted with a knob 6 at its upper end. To the shaft 22 there is keyed a gear wheel 65 (Figs. 1 to 3) which meshes with two diametrically opposed gear wheels tit,

66' (Fig. 3) which are rigidly coupled to smaller gear wheels El, 61 which are disposed therebeneath and which mesh with gear wheels d8, 68' The gear wheels dd, 66', and til, 6% are supported in the housing fit. The axles On. which these wheels rotate are formed of tubes 6% through which the four threads coming from the-eyelets on the wire springs ti pass. Each of the gears 6F, 51', and til, 68' is provided with a thread guide it, and in the position of the parts shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the two guides of each adjacent pair point in opposite directions. To the housing 63 there are secured forks ii of wire which embracethe wire springs iii and hold these latter fast against lateral displacement.

Within the cover-like casing 5i there is attached to the shaft 5d a plate l2 having two wings (Figs. 1 and 5). In the bearing member it there is provided a pin it which is disposed parallel to the shaft 59,. and on which there is pivotally mounted a stirrup-shaped member M. The pin it is provided with an arm. '35 which engages a shoulder it on a disc ll secured to a shaft 18 mounted in the casing it. The shaft 18 is stressed by a torsional spring it which constantly strives to turn this shaft in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5, it being prevented however from doing so by the engagement of the arm '55 against the shoulder it on the disc ill. The shaft it is provided at one end with an arm Ml which, on rotation of the shaft,

can bear against an inclined surface iii (Fig. 1) on the movable part it of the friction clutch, and displace the clutch member against the action of a plate spring 1%. The cover-like casing iii is provided, in pivoted bearings $2, with four sleeves iii in which there are slidably mounted wire members 8d of theupper ends of which are bent or doubled over to form hooks $5 with which the wire members are freely suspended on the threads it. The lower ends of the wire members M are thickened by being repeatedly folded on themselves.

To the housing 3 there are secured two downwardly extending stay-bolts d7! on which there is arranged to be slid and locked in position a bearing member 88 having two arms 89 in which there is mounted a shaft 96 which is provided at its free ends with rollers 9|. The shaft 90 is driven from the shaft 31 by means of sprocket wheels 94 and 92 and chain 93. On pins 95 on the arms 89 there are pivoted arms 96 on which there are aliases mounted rollers til! which bear against the rollers 9B in response to the action of a weight 99 suspended on a flexible tension member Q8. The shaft 9d is fitted with a. cord pulley I00 which drives, through the intermediary of a cord IM and a further cord pulley I02, a shaft me. This shaft ltd is mounted in a bearing member "it which is adapted to be slid and locked in any desired position on the stay-bolts W. The shaft tilt is provided midway with a worm Hi5 which engages in a worm wheel I06 attached to a crossthreaded spindle Bill supported at one endin the bearing member me. In this bearing member there are further mounted two stay-bolts N18 to which winding bobbins H09 may be fitted. The stay-bolts Hid are fitted with friction wheels till which are adapted to be driven by friction wheels Mi on the shaft it. On the cross-threaded spindle till there is adapted to travel a sliding block M2 which can be moved to and fro in a known manner on rotation of the spindle, by virtue of its engagement in the grooving of the spindle. To the sliding block H2 there are secured bifurcated thread guides H3 which partly embrace the winding bobbins I09, and which extend to both sides of the block H2 and spindle ltl. In Fig. 2 the two prongs of each of these thread guides coincide, so that they are seen as one.

The drive of the parts of the machine for which the drive is taken from the pulley B is through the train comprising the cord pulley H and the clutchpart [[3, driving shaft I2, and gear wheels ii, iii, and ii, to the shaft 22 of the knitting head, with the result that at each revolution of the cam cylinder 2d the needles are raised and lowered twice. Through the train of gears 35, 46, 38, 39, and the friction gearing 52, 53, and 5d the shaft 37!, and with it the thread feeding means (rollers it and 39) are driven. The drive for the withdrawing means (rollers 9! ill, on the shaft W) is taken from the shaft 31 by means of the chain drive comprising the elements 9d, 93, and Q2. The rotation of the shaft til is transmitted, through the cord drive I00, ml, M2, to the shaft 503, and. consequently to the cross-threaded spindle Hill and to the winding bobbins Hi9.

As can be seen from Fig; 1, the four threads M are withdrawn from the supply bobbins 6 by the conveyor rolls 38, 39, and travel through the eyelets of the wire springs 6!, the tubes 69, and the eyelets of the thread guides l0, which feed the threads in pairs to the two needles in the following manner. To each needle there are fed two threads, the first at the first raising of the needle, and the second at the second raising of the needle during one revolution of the cam cylinder M. This purpose is served more particularly by the position of the thread guides shown in Fig. 3 which of course only shows one 'of the phases of the constantly changing position during the cycle of the machine. The knitted yarns produced in this manner are withdrawn by the withdrawing means 9 I 91, passing thereby over the oblique surfaces at the upper end of the needle beds shown in Fig. 2, and over guide rollers lid which are mounted on the needle beds. The entire knitting operation and the withdrawing of the yarns is visible, which constitutes a particular advantage of the form of construction according to the invention. From the withdrawing rollers 9|, 9?! the yarns travel on to the winding rolls I09, for which purpose they pass through the bifurcated thread guides H3 and become uniformly wound on the rolls 109 in consequence of the reciprocating movement of the thread guides secured to the sliding block'l l2. If it is desired to twist the yarn, the spooling device is taken off, the belt ll fitted over the cord pulleys l3 and i5, and the yarn taken to the twisting'device I of conventional design.

By means of the friction transmission gearing 52, 53, 54, both the rate of feedof the threads (and with it the length of the loops) and also the speed of the withdrawing means can be regulated. For this purpose-the spindle 55 is rotated by means of the knob 60, wherebythe position of the intermediate wheel 53 relatively to the friction wheels 52 and 54, and therefore also the speed of rotation of the shafts 31 and 90, are altered simultaneously.

"In order to alter the vertical adjustment of the thread guides III to allow for the use of needles of different length, the set-screw 62" is slackened and tightened up again after alteration of the setting of the bearinghousing 63.

On the brealdng of a thread the wire member 84 suspended therefrom by its hook 85 loses its hold, with the result that it slides down in its sleeve 83 and comes with its thickened end in the path of. movement of the plate 12; In consequence of the pivoted mounting of the sleeve 83 this wire member is then pushed aside by this plate 12, thereby pivoting the stirrup-shaped member 14 (Figs. 1 and 5), so that the arm 15 comes out of engagement with the shoulder 16 the breaking of. one of the threads the entire machine is stopped. The clutch is of course also capable of being disengaged independently-of the described automatic stop motion.

Since the knitting head constitutes an independent unit or assembly it can also be fitted to existing thread machines. It will be understood that the invention is not restricted to the concrete embodiment described and illustrated by way' of example, but can be appropriately modified within the scope and spirit of the invention.

Thus for example in place of two needle beds there could also be provided one-single needle bed or more than two needle beds. The two threads fed to one needle may be fed thereto at difierent speeds, for which purpose the conveyor rollers 3t, 39 may either be subdivided, and their parts adapted to be driven at different speeds,

or made of stepped design with the retention of a common drive.

As shown in Figure 6, thismodification may 'comprise a plurality of stepped rolls it, it, M

and it on the shaft iL-which shaft and the parts it, M, M, M, and 9d are the same as illustrated in the main views of the drawings. The stepped rolls 39', M M and 39 are mounted to idle on the shaft ti and are in mripheral contact respectively with the rolls 3%, it, M and-it. It therefore follows that the revolutions caused by the differences in the diameter of the last mentioned rolls may result in imparting different speeds to the threads engaged thereby.

I claim:

1. In a yarn knitting machine, a rotating cam cylinder having an external cam groove, a mulsaid needles for reciprocatingmovements, said needles being arranged in a plurality of banks,

a set of revoluble thread guides supported above each bank of needles, the thread guides of each 'set each having a driven gear fixed thereto, a

parallel to the axis thereof, feet on said needles being arranged in a plurality of banks, a set of revoluble thread guides supported above each bank of needles, the thread guides of each set each having 'a driven gear fixed thereto, a driving gear centrally of the gears of each set and meshing with the driven gears, and drive means driving the cam cylinder and central gears, said-drive means including a shaft whereon said cam cylinder and driving gear are mounted.

4; In a yarn knitting machine, a rotating cam cylinder having an external cam groove, a multiplicity of needles surrounding said cylinder and parallel to the axis thereof, feet on saidneedles engaging in said groove, guide means to hold said needles for reciprocating movements, said needles being arranged in a plurality of banks, a set of revoluble thread guides supported above each bank of needles, the thread guides of each set' each having a driven gear fixed thereto, a driving ing thecam cylinder and central gears, said drive means including a shaft whereon said cam cylin-' der and driving gear are mounted, and a hand wheel on the upper end of said shaft.

5. In a yarn knitting machine, a rotating cam cylinder having an external cam groove, a multiplicity of needles surrounding said cylinder and parallel to the axis thereof, feet on said needles engaging in said groove, guide means to hold said needles for reciprocating movements, fabric feed-.

ing rolls below said cam cylinder for drawing'the knitted fabric downwardly, a main drive shaft,

plicity of needles surrounding said cylinder and parallel to the axis thereof, feet on said needles engaging-in said groove, guide means to hold said needles for reciprocating movements, fabric feeding rolls below said cam cylinder for drawing the knitted fabric downwardly, a main drive shaft, pairs of feed rollers for the. several threads constructed and arranged to feed the several threads at individual linear speeds, and frictional gearingstepped thread feed rollers feeding threads" to said guides, each step of the rollers driving an individual thread,: and frictional gearing connecting the main drive shaft with the feed rolls.

8. In a yarn knitting machine, a rotating cam cylinder having an external cam groove, a multiplicity of needles surrounding said cylinder and parallel to the axis thereof, feet on said needles engaging in said groove, guide means to hold said needles for reciprocating movements, said needles being arranged in a plurality of banks, a set of revoluble thread guides supported above each bank of needles, drive means driving said cam cylinder and thread guides, a vertically adjustable casing supporting said thread guides above said needles, and means securing said casingin adjusted position.

9. In a yarn knitting machine, a rotating cam cylinder having an external cam groove, a multiplicity of needles arranged in a plurality of banks surrounding said cylinder and parallel to the axis thereof, feet on said needles engaging said cam airmail groove, guide means to hold said needles for reciprocating movements, a set of thread guides situated above each bank of needles, and driving means to actuate said cam cylinder.

10. In a yarn knitting machine, a rotating cam cylinder having an external cam groove, a multiplicity of needles surrounding said cylinder arranged in a plurality of banks and parallel to the axis thereof, feet on said needles engaging in said groove, means for holding said needles for reciprocating movements, a set of'thread guides situated above each bank of needles, thread feeding rolls for controlling the feeding speed of the thread and the length of the stitches, means for driving the cam cylinder and feed rolls, and tension equalizing devices arranged between said thread guides and said feed rolls.

11. In a yarn knitting machine, a rotating cam cylinder having an external cam groove, a multiplicity of needles arranged in a plurality of banks surrounding said cylinder and parallel to the axis thereof, feet on said needles engaging in said groove, guide means to hold the needles for reciprocating movements, a set of thread guides situated beyond each bank of needles, thread feeding rolls for controlling the feeding speed of the thread and the length of the stitches, a main drive shaft for driving the cam cylinder, gearing connecting the main drive shaft with the feed rolls, and tension equalizing devices arranged between said thread guides and said feed rolls.

FRANZ MEIWALD. 

